The present invention relates to aspiration systems used in medical surgery and more particularly to those used for liposuction.
Surgical aspirator cannulas or vacuum curets have been used for many years to remove fluids and/or tissue from the body. They typically comprise a hollow tube or cannula having openings at each end with one opening attached to a source of vacuum. The opposite end is then introduced into that portion of the body from which the fluid and/or tissue is to removed. Then when the vacuum is applied, the fluids and/or tissue are aspirated or sucked up through the opening in the opposite end and the hollow portion of the curet into a collecting container. These vacuum curets have been used in numerous medical procedures but more recently have been used in liposuction or lipexheresis. This technique has become widely accepted in the medical community and practiced by physicians of many different specialities to remove fat from all over the body. The body contains a limited number of fat cells which do not regenerate, and therefore when the fatty tissue is removed by liposuction the body part will be thinner. One widely practiced procedure is to remove an entire layer of regular deep fat to create a layer of space in the body which layer is then compressed to form the thinner body part.
Many surgical aspirator cannulas constructions are known, and they typically require that the cannula have a threaded distal end which then fits into a threaded nut at the distal end of the handle. This design is not adapted to provide an interchangeable cannula system but rather is constructed as the means by which the manufacturer assembles the cannula. In fact to to remove this cannula from the handle requires special tooling. Thus no cannula construction is known which provides for interchanging of different cannula configurations by the surgeon during the medical procedure. However, it is desired that differently configured cannulas be used during a single medical procedure in particular for liposuction in the upper torso. For this procedure different lengths and diameters of cannulas as well as differently configured tip shapes and openings are desired at different stages of the procedure. No aspirator cannula design is known which provides for the easy and quick interchangability of cannulas by the doctor during the medical procedure in a sterile environment.
Aspirator cannulas also are constructed so that the vacuum pump is connected through a hosing to the handle and the vacuum air passageway runs through the handle to the cannula. To connect or disconnect the vacuum with the cannula requires that a technician turn the vacuum pump off by switch means at the pump. This is inconvenient because the doctor cannot personally and directly control the application of the vacuum since the pump is not in a sterile environment. Further, because of the distance of the pump and pump hosing to the cannula tip a vacuum rise time of six to eight seconds is typical.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved surgical aspirator cannula designed for surgical aspiration procedures and more particularly for liposuction.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved surgical aspirator cannula design which allows for the easy and ready interchangability of different cannulas by the doctor during the aspirating procedure.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved surgical aspirator cannula design which reduces the vacuum rise time after the doctor has positioned the cannula in the wound and requests that the vacuum be applied to the cannula tip.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved surgical aspirator cannula design which allows the doctor to personally, directly and conveniently control the application of the vacuum to the cannula tip.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.